1. Communist Hysteria of the 1950s

2. The Dot Game Object of the Game:
To begin the game, you will receive a slip of paper. Secretly check to see whether the paper is blank or has a SMALL red dot. Then hide it in your pocket and DO NOT show it to anyone during the game.
Nondots win the game by forming the largest group of students who are all nondots.
Dots win the game by being the only dot in a group.
Procedure:
You can ask others whether they are dots or nondots, but players may not reveal their slips of paper during the game.
You do not have to join a group, but you cannot win the game unless you are in a group of at least two people.
You can be a part of a group only if that group agrees that you are a member.
If you suspect that someone is a dot, report your suspicion to the teacher. He or she will deal with the accusation appropriately.

3. The Dot Game Analysis Dot Game Historical Connection
Make historical connections to the dot game from Ch. 15 pages
Dot Game
Historical Connection
Some students were dots
Most students were nondots
Students accused others of being dots even though they never saw other students’ slip of paper
Students were to report suspected dots to the teacher.
Anxiety increased as students lost trust in one another.

4. Historical Connection
Dot Game
Historical Connection
Some students were dots
Some Americans during the Cold War were Communist Party members or Soviet spies.
Most students were nondots
Most Americans were not Communist Party members or Soviet spies.
Students accused others of being dots even though they never saw other students’ slip of paper
HUAC, McCarthy, and others made accusations —often based only on suspicion—against Americans thought to be communists or communist sympathizers. Accusing individuals without evidence became known as McCarthyism. Americans accused of being communists or communist sympathizers were often placed on blacklists.
Students were to report suspected dots to the teacher.
Americans were encouraged to report suspected communist activities. Those accused included Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs.
Anxiety increased as students lost trust in one another.
Anxieties were raised during the Cold War as Americans were concerned about the spread of communism and the possibility of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union.

5. Homework
Make a warning sign about the Atomic Age pg The diamond-shaped warning sign should have these things:
a short phrase that summarizes the lesson learned today
an icon/symbol related to the warning
a wordy description that more fully explains the lesson learned and includes at least two Key Content Terms. Place below or behind the warning sign.
Use the following terms: Atomic Age, Civil Defense, Federal Civil Defense Administration, Preparedness, Operation Alert Drills
As the United States fought the Cold War at home, HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee, accused many people of . . .

6. Homework terms to know Atomic Age Civil Defense
Federal Civil Defense Administration
Preparedness
Operation Alert Drills

7. Peace, Prosperity, and Progress
THE 1950s:
Peace, Prosperity, and Progress

8. Postwar Politics: Readjustments and Challenges
A Rocky Transition to Peace
Truman’s “Fair Deal”
Tried to help society by increasing minimum wage, aid to farmers and education
Inflation
War contracts are over, unemployment rises
Price controls are over, prices rise

9. Postwar Politics: Readjustments and Challenges
Truman battles the Republican Congress
22nd Amendment: presidential term limits
Taft-Hartley Act: reduced the power of labor unions
Congress resists civil rights changes
Truman fights back by desegregating the military
Election of 1948
Truman narrowly wins (huge surprise)

11. Eisenhower’s “modern Republicanism”

12. Economic Growth Creates an Age of Affluence
Americans saved a lot of money during WWII, leads to:
Consumer demand ↑
Production ↑
Advertising ↑
Buying on Credit ↑
“Planned Obsolescence”
Ex. Seasonal fashions
The Economy Begins to Shift from Goods to Services
New Vocab: Service Sector
Ex. Motels and Fast food franchises

13. “Planned Obsolescence”

14. 1950  Introduction of the Diner’s Card
Consumerism
1950  Introduction of the Diner’s Card
All babies were potential consumers who spearheaded a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter Life Magazine (May, 1958)

15. Consumerism

16. A Changing Workplace New Corporate Culture:
Blue Collar to White Collar Jobs
“The Company Man”
1956  Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

17. Marriage, Families, and a Baby Boom
Increase in marriages (Decrease in marriage age)
“Baby Boom”
Results:
↑ in consumer spending
↑ in home sales
↑ in schools

18. Average age of first marriages

19. 1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds
Baby Boom
It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant British visitor to America, 1958
1957  1 baby born every 7 seconds

20. Well-Defined Gender Roles
The ideal modern woman married, cooked and cared for her family, and kept herself busy by joining the local PTA and leading a troop of Campfire Girls. She entertained guests in her family’s suburban house and worked out on the trampoline to keep her size 12 figure Life magazine, 1956
The ideal 1950s man was the provider, protector, and the boss of the house Life magazine, 1955
1956  William H. Whyte, Jr.  The Organization Man
a middle-class, white suburban male is the ideal.

21. $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.
Suburbia
Levittown, L. I.: “The American Dream”
1949  William Levitt produced houses per week.
$7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

22. Suburban Living: The New “American Dream”
1 story high
12’x19’ living room
2 bedrooms
tiled bathroom
garage
small backyard
front lawn
By 1960  1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

23. SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, 1940-1970
Suburban Living
SHIFTS IN POPULATION DISTRIBUTION,
Central Cities % % % %
Suburbs % % % %
Rural Areas/ % % % %
Small Towns
*Population also shifts to the “Sunbelt” states.

24. Suburban Living: The Typical TV Suburban Families
The Donna Reed Show
Leave It to Beaver
Father Knows Best
The Ozzie & Harriet Show

25. The Culture of the Car
America became a more homogeneous nation because of the automobile.
First McDonald’s (1955)
Drive-In Movies
Howard Johnson’s

26. 1950’s Gender Roles